Improvement in sewing-machines



v 2 Sheets -Sheet L D. KELSE'Y; I

FEED MOTION FOR SEWING MACHINES. I No. 24,939. Patented Aug. 2, 1859.

2 Sheets-Sheet 2. D. KEL-SEY. FEED MOTION FOR SEWING MACHINES.

No. 24,939. Patented Aug. 2, 1859.

UNITED STATES DAVID KELSEY, OF-HARPERS FERRY, VIRGINIA.

IMPROVEMENTJN SEWING-MACHINES.

Specification forming part of Letters Patent No. 24;!)39; dated August 2, 1859.

To aZLwZwm/ it may concern:

Be it known that I, DAVID KELSEY, of,

Harpers Ferry, in the county of Jefferson and State of Virginia, have invented a newand useful Improvement in Feed-Motions of Sew-' ing-Machines; and I do hereby declare that .he following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being bad to the accompanying drawings, forming part. of this specification, in which Figure 1 is a front view, partly in section, of those parts of a sewing-machine which are necessary to illustrate my inventionr"Fig. 2 is avertical section at right angles to Fig. 1, taken nearly in the plane indicated by the line 3 y of that figure, looking in the direction of the arrow as. Fig. 3 is aside view of thefeeding-dog. Figs. 4 and 5 are vertical sections of the feeding-dog-and pressure-pad parallel with Fig. 1. v

Similar letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in the several figures.

My invention relates to what is ,known in sewing-machines as a top feed, and it consistsin a certain arrangement of and mode of combining the pressure-pad and feeding-dog, whereby when the dogis pressed'upon the material the pad is caused to be raised therefrom, and is prevented interfering with the action of the dog in the feeding operation.

To enable others to make and use my invention, I will proceed to describe its construction and operation. I

A is the bed-plate of .the sewing-machine, and Bis the upper frame. 0 is the needlebar', sliding vertically in a guide in the upper frame, B, and operated in the usual way by a lever, C, or in any suitable manner.

D is the pressure-pad, smooth-faced and of the usual form, and attached. to a stem, E, which is fitted to slide up and down in avertical guide, aa, provided for it in the upper frame, B, and is so tapered, as shown in Fig. 2, as to be capable of vibrating-in the said guide in planes parallel with the desired di-' rection of the feed movement. v

F is the spring by which the necessary downward pressure is given to the pad, applied in a well-known way to the stem E; and G is the lever for raising the pad, applied in the usual manner to the stem.

H is a slide fitted to work horizontally through the frame B in a direction parallel with the desired direction-ofthe feed move-- ment, and containing'a recess, b 0, toreceive the needle-Bar O, and another recess, d e, to re ceive the stem E of the pressure-pad. The

recess be has-its ends inclined, as shown in Fig. 2 5 but the recess d c has its ends vertical.

The needle-bar. has two inclined steps, 9 h, one

on each side, for the purpose of acting upon. the inclined ends of the recess b c of the slide H, and thereby. moving the said slide longitudinally back, and forth as the needle-bar moves up and down. In one-end of this'slide H there is fitted a screw, f, tightened by a jam-nut, n, and to the stem E of the pressurepad there is attached a stifi" spring, 8, which always keep the said Storm in contact either with the said screw f or with the side of the guide a, a that is nearest the said screw.

I is the toothed feeding-dog, fitted into a slot inthe press'u're pad in such amanner as to be incapable of longitudinal or lateral movement therein, but to be capable of rising and falling therein. The said dog has a stem, J,

which fits close against the stem E of the pressure-pad.

L is an eccentric or cam working in arece'ss, .r r, in'the stem J, between it and the stem E on a'pin, i, which is secured in the latter,

and which passes through a slot, p, in the lat ter.- The said eccentric has two horns, j k, be-' tween and against the inner edges of which works a stud or projection, Z,--that'is secured to the needle-bar, and by the oscillationof the eccentric on the .pin '5 the two stems are caused to work longitudinally the one against the other. a

The operation of the pressurepad and feeding-dog is as follows: As the needle descends, the stud l, strikingthe lower horn, k, of the eccentric L, knocks it down to the position shown in Fig, 4, thus making the eccentric,

by its action within the recess 11 r, lift up the feeding-dogfrom the cloth or other material on the bed-plate A, and leaving the pressure} pad subject to the full pressure of its spring F. The stud I, having knocked the said horn k to a vertical position, passes downit'and holds it stationary while the needle-bar completes its descent; but before such descent is completed the step g of the said bar, passing in contact with the inclined end b of the recess b 'cof'the slide H, moves the said slide in the direction of the arrow shown near it in Fig. 2, and the said slide carries with it the pressure-pad stem and the pad, and the'latter carries the feedingdog. This is the backward movement of the dog. As the needle-bar rises the stud Zstrikes the upper horn,- j, of the eccentric and knocks itup to the position shown in Fig. "'5, thus making the eccentric force down the dog against or into the material, and thereby causing it to lift up the pressure-pad and throw the whole: pressure of the spring Fon the dog. The stud I, having brought the horn j to the vertical position, passes up it and holds the eccentric stationary, while the step h' of the needle-bar passes along the inclined surface 0 of the recess 6 c'and moves the slide H in the opposite direction to that indicated by the arrow in Fig. 2, and the said slide, carrying with it the pressure-pad and feed-dog, feeds the material. Thus it will be seen that while the dog acts the padis raised, and while the dog moves back the pad bears on the material, but the dog is raised out 'of contact and prevented dragging. The length of feed'is regulated by means of the screw f;

I do not claim applying a feeding-dog and a pressure-pad to operate separately upon the outside or upper surface of the material to be sewed in such manner that when one is in .operationthe other is raised up; but 

